Gambia secures $20 million IDA grant to strengthen fiscal resilience
Banjul, Gambia (PANA) - The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved a grant of $20 million for Gambia's Second Fiscal Management, Energy and Telecom Reform Development Policy Financing (DPF).
A statement said the DPF will support The Gambia’s effort to improve debt and public investment management, financial viability and service delivery in the energy and telecom sectors while enhancing the transparency and governance framework of State-owned Enterprises (SOEs).
The International Development Association (IDA) grant is to support the government's inclusive growth agenda by contributing to its efforts to create fiscal space as well as enhance service delivery in key infrastructure sectors.
“The reforms that will be addressed under the DPF are very important in supporting the country’s economic recovery and addressing macroeconomic vulnerabilities within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and global instability,” said Feyi Boroffice, World Bank Resident Representative.
“When addressed, they will help diversify economic growth and generate fiscal space for investments in human capital and physical infrastructure to spur growth and accelerate poverty reduction over the medium term.”
The DPF’s priorities are linked to the country’s National Development Plan (NDP) for 2018-2022 which emphasises economic stabilisation, growth stimulation and structural transformation as key priorities for The Gambia, and the three pillars of the DPF series support these objectives.
The DPF supports other strategic priorities and cross-cutting enablers of the NDP.
These include restoring good governance, building infrastructure and restoring energy services, promoting environmental sustainability and climate resilient communities, making the private sector the main engine of growth, improving the efficiency of the public sector, and strengthening evidence-based policy, planning and decision-making.
The DPF will also support a series of measures to improve and strengthen fiscal risks and debt management by introducing a framework to manage government loan guarantees and issuing an Annual Borrowing Plan (ABP), strengthening public investment management by improving project selection and appraisal, and supporting procurement reforms to ensure consistent use of competitive bidding and oversight of the procurement process.
-0- PANA MSS/MA 11May2022
